Recently, I was hired to write two professional Bios – one for offline use and the other to be part of the client’s website.

The requirement below was made a key part of the assignment:

Each Bio must highlight my talents and achievements in different fields, as the target audiences are also different.

“No problem”, thought this samurai writer, and proceeded to gather the necessary documents for research:

• Resume (CV)
• Current Bio
• Website
• Social Media Profiles (LinkedIn)

Write With The End In Mind

My problems began after reading through the documents and online materials and then asking my unconscious mind to do some pre-processing, while I took a break from that project. (This is how I ‘prime’ my creativity pump.)

I say “problem”, because my writing style demands a single-minded focus or goal, and what came through was a first draft with an amalgam of both offline and online ideas.

Of course, I didn’t realize this at the time but my client soon did – after reading what I emailed through! It took a few emails and some online chat but we finally ended up with a deadline to get the offline bio written first.

Phew! That made things a lot simpler. I scrapped the first, confused draft and came up with a much tighter and emphatic second one. The client is traveling this weekend so I expect some feedback start of next week.

Bio Writing – Let’s Talk

It so happens that I know this client quite well and we were able to understand each other via email and online chat.

I’m thinking that for clients I don’t know (the vast majority), the optimal use of time (for both of us) would be to have an actual conversation – by phone or skype.

This would be before actual writing begins – but after the client has ordered and provided the basic requirement and the necessary documents for me to read over.

Any professional bio writers out there? What do you think?

And potential bio clients – I’m interested in your feedback too. As a trained career/life coach, I’m comfortable with doing a consulting / information gathering phone call.

- Mark McClure

PS – If you’re interested in having a professional bio written, then please do contact me with your requirements and I’ll get back to you.